ESSEX, MD - The Northampton men's lacrosse team opened their inaugural season with a 26-2 loss to #4 CCBC-Essex on Saturday afternoon in the season opener for both teams.

Playing outside, and on a full field, for the first team this season, the Spartans fell behind 13-0 after the first quarter against the two-time NJCAA national champion Knights, but seemed to get their legs under them somewhat as the game went on.

"Essex is such a strong program," remarked Head Coach Paul Miller, "they have such a storied history in lacrosse, it was great for our team to get the opportunity to travel here and play against a program of this stature.  Obviously, we know as a first year team we will have a number of ups and downs this season, the weather has really hindered us, but I was happy with our improvement throughout the game."

Ryan Trimmer etched his name in the Northampton record book, scoring the first goal in program history off an assist from Brian Wahlgren in the second quarter and Travis Hartranft scored an unassisted goal in the third quarter.

Midfielder Jonathan Burley won 6 faceoffs and goalie Anthony Pellicciotti recorded 13 saves.

The Knights, who have been to the NJCAA national championship game 12 times in their history, are ranked 4th in the NJCAA pre-season poll.

Northampton, now 0-1, will return to action on Saturday March 8th when they travel to Williamson Trade.

Team	1st Qtr	2nd Qtr	3rd Qtr	4th Qtr	Final Score
Northampton (0-1)	0	1	1	0	2
CCBC - Essex (1-0)	13	4	6	3	26